First sails of 2015 on Reel Fun

Here are a couple of pics from the first couple of times out on the water in 2015 on the Precision.

Took my brother out on Memorial Day

Mainsail raised

First trip to look at a bigger boat and an offer is made

I knew buying a bigger boat would be a pain, but this was very painful. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

First trip to see the Hunter 28.5

I scheduled time to do an initial check of the 1986 Hunter 28.5 that I saw on Craigslist. It's in my price range, looks like it's in nice shape, and is very close to me. Other boats I've seen have been far away, which will make inspection and delivery tougher. 

I met the owner at the marina and the kids were VERY eager to check out the boat. They had fun running all around and checking out all the storage areas.I'm not a religious person, but I'm not about to anger the ocean gods. There's a whole ritual about renaming a boat that I just don't want to undertake, so I need to find a boat with a name I can live with. This boat's name is O'Sea D, which is fine as I've been told I have a touch of that by several people! Later on I would come to find that she had been named "Naughty Muffin". Wow, what a horrendous name. Sounds like a bad porn name and I would have passed if she still had that name.

The boat looks like it needs a good cleaning. It has been on stands for the past 2 years. The owner had lived in New Hampshire and would spend weekends on board while she visited her daughters, who live locally. Eventually she purchased a house on a river and wanted a powerboat because the river was too shallow for the Hunter (she draws 5'2"). All the electrical work was redone (at the tune of $7,000!), there's a nice chartplotter and the interior looks good. 

I was hoping the owner would have been able to get the sails on already and the cushions out, but no luck. If you're going to sell a boat, I would advise having everything ready before you list it.

That night I decide to make an offer, contingent upon a good survey.

I have lost my mind.

Buying a bigger boat...

I haven't even had the boat in the water for a week and the kids just don't like my Precision 18 sailboat and want something bigger. My original plan was to sail this boat for a few years and then move on to something in the 30 foot range, possibly a Catalina or Hunter 29.5.

I was browsing Craigslist and I saw a boat listed that is very close to me. It is a Hunter 28.5 and saw it on the hard last year while I was riding my bike by Tern Harbor Marina. It's in my price range and sounds like it has had a lot of work done and is ready to go. Here are some pics from the ad.

Thoughts running through my head:

• Am I crazy to upgrade to a bigger boat so quickly?
• Can I afford it? I can trailer my Precision to my backyard for the winter.
• Is there a bigger slip available at Thayer's Landing?

I talked to Jeff and he said he has one available and I could pay the difference to have it. He might rent out the slip any day though, so I decide to go for it and pay him the difference. For the bigger slips, there's a minimum boat length of 32", so I pay the difference between my 18' Precision to 32'.

Game on!

Early morning at the boat ramp

It's May 15th already and I don't have the boat in the water yet!

I'm super nervous around the boat ramp, so I got up this morning at 4:30 and got to the boat ramp 20 minutes later. Raised the mast, rigged the sails and motored over to my slip by 7am.

There was one part where I panicked. I was in the channel off of Wessagusset and the motor died on me and there was zero wind. I didn't open the vent on fuel tank, which starved the motor for fuel. I realized this quickly and was up and running in no time.

The folding bike comes in handy to get back to my car at the boat ramp. It's about 4 miles from my marina.

Nice and calm at 6:15am

One of the first ones to the marina for the year.

Came back at night to do some cleanup work. This photo looks like a watercolor.

I better get moving, it's almost splash time!

After one of the worst winters in history in the Boston area, and the south shore area hit especially hard with over 10 feet of snow, I'm a bit behind with remaining tasks to get Reel Fun ready for the water. I'm doing the bottom paint while she's on the trailer. I don't know when the centerboard has last been painted, but perhaps I'll do that in the fall if I can get her on a lift for a short bit.

The bottom needs to be scraped and repainted. Boot stripe needs to be replaced

After years of rubbing against dock fenders, the graphics have peeled

Stripes removed with a 3M magic eraser wheel on an electric drill. HIGHLY recommended method!

New stripes and graphics applied

To get under the bunks, I lowered the tongue of the trailer to the ground, lifting the transom in the air. I took an outboard motor storage frame I build, which just fit under the transom, then raised the tongue of the trailer with a car jack and the boat lifted right off the bunks.

Hard to see, but the hull is no longer resting on the bunks. I used 2x4s to push the hull to one side giving me even more clearance to paint on the other side.

Looks like new and is ready for the water!

Hauling out Reel Fun - an end to the 2014 season

My 2013 season was short - only 1 month after purchasing my boat and then the marina telling me I couldn't use the slip for the remainder of the season.

Due to my car accident, I didn't get the work performed to make Reel Fun seaworthy again until late August. I found a great place to keep her, so even though the 2014 season was only 2 weeks, it was still a lot of fun.

I got up early again to make sure I had the boat ramp to myself. I used my folding bike to get from the ramp to my marina and had a nice motor back to the ramp. I wish I could have sailed over, but I needed to get to the office.

A beautiful sunrise over Thayer's Landing

And I'm off

Boat ramp casualties, luckily it's not mine

Sails stored, mast lowered, boom put away and she's ready for transport

A couple of sails on Reel Fun for 2014 - MUCH better than 2013

So with the ASA 101 class just behind me, I'm feeling good handling Reel Fun. I took my kids out for a couple of sails and things went great. They are still a little nervous when we're heeling over when closed hauled, so I'm trying to convince them it's normal.

It's great to see Weymouth from a different perspective. I had never really been down this area before.